With the beginning of life, comes the thirst for truth, whereas the ability to lie is gradually acquired in the process of trying to stay alive.
Gao XingjianRead
Since childhood, I'd dreamed of making a film, but producers in France and Germany wanted to make commercial films with chinoiserie. I refused.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a commitment to artistic integrity over commercial success.
Gao Xingjian expresses his lifelong aspiration to create films that resonate with his vision, rather than conforming to the commercial demands of producers who favor superficial trends, such as chinoiserie. This highlights the struggle between personal artistic values and the pressures of the entertainment industry.
Themes
Artistic IntegrityCommercial FilmsChinoiserieAspirationFilmmaking
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be inspirational for film students discussing the importance of maintaining their artistic vision.
More from Gao Xingjian
All quotes βI was born Chinese, and I write in Chinese. I don't think there's any need to evade this... to a writer, as to a person, what matters is not his political label or his nationality, but whether he is a person and whether his work is worth looking at.
Gao XingjianRead
For me, writing [was] a question of survival...I could not trust anyone, even my family. The atmosphere was so poisoned. People even in your own family could turn you in.
Gao XingjianRead
Young man, nature is not frightening, it's people who are frightening! You just need to get to know nature and it will become friendly. This creature known as man is of course highly intelligent, he's capable of manufacturing almost anything from rumours to test-tube babies and yet he destroys two to three species every day. This is the absurdity of man.
Gao XingjianRead
If you're not perfectly conscious of yourself, that self can be tyrannical; in relationship to others, anyone can become a tyrant. That's why no one can be a Superman. You have to go beyond yourself with a 'third eye' - self-awareness - because the one thing you cannot flee is yourself.
Gao XingjianRead
Literature transcends national boundaries, racial boundaries. It goes deep into the issues that concern all human beings. That is why, when people read Greek tragedy - it doesn't matter who reads it - they are still moved by it.
Gao XingjianRead
Similar quotes
The Moon, the dried weeds and the Pleiades - Seven feet tall the dark, dried weed stalks make a part of the night a red lace on the milky blue sky
William Carlos WilliamsRead
Good writers borrow from other writers. Great writers steal from them outright.
Aaron SorkinRead
Everyday life is like programming, I guess. If you love something you can put beauty into it.
Donald KnuthRead
Early on, I played a Chinese delivery person, and even that, which was very innocuous, felt like I was somehow betraying myself. I felt very self-conscious on set doing that role, with a crew that was almost entirely white.
John ChoRead
Art in its highest form is art that serves and instructs society and human development.
Harry BelafonteRead
I consciously think about the ethnicity of every character that I create and cast. But one thing that is equally important is quality representation. It's not enough to put an African-American in there, a female in there, a gay character in there: How significant is their contribution? Can they drive the story?
Daniel Dae KimRead